


On Purpose

by presidentlena



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Asexual John, Drinking, Everyone Is Gay, Homophobia, Lams - Freeform, M/M, Modern Era, tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-19 11:19:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9437963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/presidentlena/pseuds/presidentlena
Summary: Alex doesn't think he wants or needs his soulmate. Relationships just get in the way of his work, and they're completely unnecessary. At least that's how he sees it.Then, he meets John Laurens and he doesn't know what to think.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Based on that one soulmate AU on tumblr, about seeing colors when you meet your soulmate.
> 
> I was bound to do a soulmate au at some point, so why not the gay founding fathers, right?

1

The world, to Alexander, was in grayscale. What he saw was always some shade of white, gray, and black. It's not that he minded the dullness and sameness to his surroundings, to his acquaintances, to everything he saw. He didn't need 'color', something he had never seen, in order to write of his life, or write letters, or write his opinions on something the arrogant fool Thomas Jefferson had said. He didn't need them to converse with people, argue, or anything really.

What bothered him was the curiosity of it. Marquis de Lafayette never hesitated to tell him how gorgeous the world was with color compared to the dull shades he saw before meeting Hercules Mulligan. Lafayette spoke of the colors often; small things usually, like informing Alexander he was writing in blue ink, or that miss Angelica Schuyler was wearing the most lovely shade of pink that day. Small things like that, and though Alex would nod, he had not a clue to what blue looked like, or what pink looked like. In addition, once or twice Jefferson had bragged to Alex that he had James Madison and everything was oh-so-perfect in the world.

Alexander didn't need his soulmate. In honesty, he wasn't sure he wanted a soulmate. As far as he could tell, he was doing just fine, and having a romantic interest to pursue would distract him of his work and only cause issues. He had been in a relationship with Eliza Schuyler for a few months, as neither of them yet had seen the world in color and both had an attraction that sparked between them. Alexander really did enjoy the small moments with Eliza, who really was something else, but most of all he kept in mind having a relationship wasn't all the rainbows and sunshine that Lafayette would talk about. When it came down to it, Alex spent far more time with his journal and with his work than with Eliza despite her pleas for him to take a break every now and then. In the end, he'd cheated on her with Maria Reynolds and their relationship was utterly destroyed. She and her sisters still hadn't yet forgiven him. The whole thing was a mess.

To Alexander, it didn't seem worth the effort. He would always be busy, he was never satisfied, and he was sure he could never give his soulmate enough. That was that.

—

"Mon ami, please take a break?" Lafayette sounding genuinely worried for him made Alex crack a smile. "I'm sure you have not slept in weeks."

Alexander shook his head briefly, not looking up from his rushed writing, "I slept four days ago, actually." He could practically feel his French friend's look of bewilderment at the nonchalant statement, "As if that's any better! How you have not yet collapsed, I do not know..." Alex took this with a grain of salt. His sleep schedule had been nearing nonexistent for as long as he could remember. Alex was rather used to it by this point in his life. "When was the last you ate?" Lafayette continued to pry.

As Alex had not responded and still not looked up at Lafayette a single time since the conversation had been initiated, Lafayette let out a sigh. Calmly, he snatched Alex's pen away from him, causing Alex to finally raise his glance—which now was a glare—and let out a very discontent, "Hey!" Lafayette took Alexander's now free hand in his own and looked down at his seated friend seriously, "Herc and I are going out for drinks tonight. You will join us, yes? Get something to eat, and have a few with us. And then you can get some sleep." 

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Alexander attempted his rebuttal, "Lafayette, I have—"

"Work to do?" Lafayette finished the sentence for Alexander, before smiling, "I know. You already work harder than necessary, I am sure it will be fine for one night. So, mon ami, you are joining us?" Alexander opened his mouth to fight back, but instead closed it again with a sigh. Lafayette wasn't going to give up until Alexander agreed, and frankly, wether he go with them or let Lafayette bug him, he still wouldn't be getting work done. And, what Lafayette didn't realize, was that he and Hercules always ended up so out of it they wouldn't even notice if Alexander brought his work with him. So, Alex was compelled to agree, "Fine. But only for a little while." 

Seemingly glowing, Lafayette leaned over to press a kiss to Alex's cheek, "Good! Then we will see you ce soir!"

Alexander couldn't hold back his smile at Lafayette, "Sure, yeah..." He trailed for a moment, before stealing his pen back and pressing it to the page again, "Now, please leave so I can work before we go out." 

Scoffing, Lafayette responded, "I swear, Alex, you are going to work yourself to death," with this he made his way to the door of Alexander's bedroom. "You really shouldn't be so hard on yourself, nous t'aimons, so it is really quite upsetting." 

Instead of listening, Alexander continued to write quickly in his journal; if he left tonight without at least a large portion of things done, he'd be very annoyed

—

It didn't take very long for Hercules and Lafayette to wind up trashed and start acting like complete idiots. Alexander watched them for a moment, laughing to himself as they argued with each other over very insignificant and stupid things. He took his notepad from his pocket along with a pen. Lafayette and Hercules hadn't noticed him bring the items. Well, what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. 

Drowning out the sounds of the loud bar, including Hercules's way too loud shouting, was easy. He'd learned to focus on what he was doing rather than the things that would have distracted him if he hadn't learned such. All of this was easy, until he heard Lafayette cursing, loudly, in French at someone, and he was sure the Frenchman's opponent was not Hercules, for he sounded mad. If it were bickering with Hercules, it would've been playful.

This drew Alexander's attention, and he raised his eyes from his notepad and to the scene unfolding. 

From what he could gather just from the sight, it seemed Hercules, Lafayette and some other man had banded together and picked a fight with another man who he recognized as Charles Lee, a man who Alex hated almost as much as Jefferson. He looked up just in time to see the fist flying at Lee, and hit Lee solidly in face, sounding a crack. Lee, then, was sitting flat on the floor with his hand holding his cheek, looking incredibly insulted. Who threw the blow that knocked him down to the seat of his pants? Alexander was sure it was the mystery man standing with his two friends, as the said person had his fist still raised. The sight of Lee down like this brought a smile to Alex's expression; whoever the man who punched him was, Alex now had respect for him for putting Lee in his place.

One of Lee's friends made off with Lee before Lee could even react. This made Alex scoff to himself; Lee was a coward.

Hercules laughed, and slapped the man on the back to show his amusement. Lafayette, too, seemed pleased seeing the bruise forming on Lee's face from the punch. 

Figuring it was about time he joined the party, Alex slid the notebook and pen back into his pocket and made his way to his friends and the stranger. 

Now he was close, he could see the man much better. His dark, curly hair was tied up in a ponytail, he had freckles starring his skin, and he was rather... Cute, dare Alex say. Alexander shook the thought, and spoke to his two friends, who were still laughing at the expression on Lee's face when he got hit. "Lafayette, Hercules, who's this?" He questioned, turning his gaze back to the man as he, too, looked at Alexander.

He answered before either Hercules or Lafayette had the chance, "John Laurens." 

Putting on his best smile, Alexander held out his hand, "Alexander Hamilton, it's a pleasure," John Laurens took his hand and they shook, before both dropped their hands. "Anyone who puts Lee in his place like that is my friend." He added, taking in the embarrassed expression that now formed on John's face as he opened his mouth to explain his action. Before John could speak, however, Alex cut him off by raising his hand and saying, "We all know Lee's a jerk, whatever your reason I'm sure it's completely justified." 

"That was marvelous, John," Lafayette joined in, stepping away from Hercules and slinging his arm around John's shoulders. "I would not have expected that from you." Then he turned his words to Alex, "A pleasant surprise, no?" Alex nodded his agreement, the grin on his face a little too bright.

John gave a smile, running his fingers through his curled hair, "I've known Lee for years... Usually I'm better at keeping my anger controlled, but..." He trailed, but Hercules finished for him, "Years of dealing with the idiot plus," Hercules raised his glass, "drinking don't go together well?"

"Exactly." Finally, John joined in on the laughter, and Alexander found the sound incredibly endearing. It was nice, and definitely a more gentle tone than, say, Hercules' roar of a laugh. Add that with John's... Everything else, Alexander realized he was, ultimately, screwed. 

The four men found their way to a table and sat to continue their conversation. Alexander, Lafayette, and Hercules had certainly taken a liking to this John Laurens. Especially Alexander. And, it was evident John had grown interest in the group as well. 

John was the first to speak, his tone apologetic, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your names, except for yours, Alex." 

"Hercules Mulligan," Hercules introduced himself, before shrugging and adding, "These guys usually stick to Mulligan, though. Who gets named Hercules, of all things?" This made John smile good-naturedly.

Lafayette grinned, "Oh, mon ami, if you think Hercules is an odd name..."

"Oh boy." Alexander set his hand on John's shoulder as a silent apology for Lafayette's full name. 

"My full name is Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette." 

Hercules said, "It's Lafayette. Call him Lafayette." 

"...Its nice to meet you all; Alex, Lafayette, Hercules." John was genuine with this, and they all raised their glasses together as a toast for their new friendship. 

—

Meeting John Laurens was incredibly pleasant, Alex thought. In fact, it really did make up for the lost time that he could have spent writing. And that, coming from Alexander, said something. 

At some point after midnight, far longer than Alex had originally intended to stay (he had grown interested in John and was enjoying the group, so what?), he got a cab for him, Hercules, and Lafayette. They said their goodbyes to John, though all promised to see John again, before piling into the taxi and making their way to Alex and Lafayette's apartment. Alex found himself surprised at how much he did not want to say goodbye to their new friend. 

Upon arriving home, Lafayette and Mulligan said goodnight before going to Lafayette's room. Alexander went straight to his and opened his journal to the first clean page he found to write of tonight and John Laurens and to explain the tiny crush he had on said man. Writing was where he always went to with his thoughts. The crush he had was indeed small; maybe interest was a better word. He took interest in John's appearance, his voice, the small part of personality that was shown that night. People were so much more than first impressions, after all. It made sense for Alexander to be curious, so perhaps this explained his longing to know John.

It wasn't until early in the morning Alexander began to notice his world wasn't gray any longer.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and John are both seeing colors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why am I writing Fanfiction of the founding fathers
> 
> I'm sorry mom

It was impossible. There was absolutely no way Alexander was really seeing colors— no way at all.

But, the fact was, he certainly was seeing some colors, if not many. The ink of his pen no longer a deep gray, the blanket on his hardly used bed no longer black. Even the morning sky had something special to it that he had never seen. The thought that he had met his soulmate made him panic inside, and he abruptly stood from his seat and rushed to the door of his bedroom. He flung it open in effort to race to Lafayette's room to discuss this situation. As he made his way to the Frenchman's bedroom, he noticed more new shades and colors. The flowers in the kitchen, the rug by the door. 

He lifted his hand to Lafayette's door and knocked loudly, tapping his foot as he waited. 

After a moment of shuffling being heard in the room, Lafayette opened the door, looking a little tired and confused. "Mon ami, it's far too early for... Anything." He said, bringing his fingers to his eyes and attempting to rub the sleep from them. "What is so important at this hour?"

"Colors— Laf," Alexander was currently tripping over his own words, trying best to explain, "I'm seeing colors." 

This caught Lafayette's attention, and he now looked wide awake. "You have better not be joking, Alex—"

Alexander cut him off in exasperation, "I'm not!" 

A wide grin appeared on Lafayette's sleepy face, and he clapped his hands together sharply. He turned and ran to his bed, and practically jumped onto Hercules to wake him up. "GET UP, NOW!" He exclaimed as he landed on top of Hercules, who was instantly awoken. Hercules reacted by trying to get up, but this just made both of them fall off of the bed and land on the floor. This made Alexander cringe. He was beginning to regret informing Lafayette of this. 

"Lafayette, what are you doing?!" Hercules got Lafayette off of him, and stood up, staring at the Frenchman who followed. Then he looked to Alexander, just now noticing him standing there, and said, "I swear to God, Alex, if you put Laf up to this—"

Lafayette stood on the bed so that he and Hercules' height difference was less drastic, and he grabbed Hercules' shoulders and shook him, "Alexander has met his soulmate! Mon petit lion is seeing colors, Mulligan!" 

Grabbing Lafayette's hands to stop him from shaking him, Hercules turned back to Alexander with wide eyes and a smile, "You can't be serious— your soulmate; you met them, Alex?" 

Alex smiled a little helplessly, "Apparently I have." Hercules got over to the doorway and grabbed Alex in a crushing hug, laughing in his deep voice all the while, "Ha! Oh god, I can't believe this." 

The hug left Alex without barely any opportunities to breathe, but he didn't stop Hercules, as he was more focused on his thoughts than his ribs being crushed. He met his soulmate. The soulmate he was sure he didn't want or need. And the only person he had met recently was... John Laurens. If Alex was being honest with himself, being soulmates with John didn't actually seem that terrible, but... Still, he didn't really know John, and as far as he knew another relationship would go just as great as his and Eliza's did. 

"John," Alexander said out loud, without thinking, and Hercules dropped him and raised his eyebrow, "John?" He repeated. 

"John Laurens. He's the only person I've met in a long time— It's him, isn't it?" Alexander took a deep breath, both to calm his overloaded brain and to regain the ability to breathe after being the victim of Hercules' embrace. 

Lafayette and Hercules both looked at each other a moment, engaging in silent conversation, before both started laughing good-naturedly and the realization of who it must be. This was going to be a mess. Alex felt a little embarrassed of his friend's reactions.

Regaining himself, however, the Frenchman put his arm around Alex and planted a kiss on his forehead in reassurance. "Mon ami, Laurens seems like a very lovely man, do give him a chance, okay?" Alex nodded and Lafayette continued, "I assure you all will be fine."  
—

The first thing John noticed when he woke up was the sudden appearance of color in his life. He nearly fell out of his bed. Colors equaled soulmate. He had definitely met some new people as of late, but... This was the last thing he would've expected. 

John's first instinct was to figure out an idea of who his... Soulmate could be. He'd met more than one person the last few days. A cunning woman named Maria had talked to him while he was on a walk, he'd had a short conversation with a vain woman named Peggy. But those two most definitely were out of the list— John was gay, after all. That left those three men— Lafayette, Hercules, and Alexander. He was ninety percent sure it wasn't the first two for certain reasons.

Thinking of the last man being his soulmate made John feel rather flustered. 

Out of everyone he'd recently met, Alexander Hamilton had peaked his interest the most. Alex was short, and, frankly, it was adorable, he had lovely dark hair, and he had a fire in his eyes that John noticed instantly when they met. John very much had wanted to get to know everything about Alexander right then. 

If Alex happened to be his soulmate, well... He certainly wouldn't be complaining.

Grabbing his phone (he noticed the newly found color) from the table next to his bed, John unlocked it hurriedly and opened a new message. He addressed it to Alex, who's phone number he had gotten last night. As badly as John wanted to say something— something about the color, about the theory it was because of Alex— he couldn't possibly do that, not now, so instead he just said something very simple.

John: i don't know if you remember me but its John Laurens from last night

He started to set his phone down, but it gave a 'ding', and he unlocked it again and opened messages to see a reply from Alexander.

Alex: i couldn't forget you if I tried :)

The comment made John smile to himself, but he had no time to think about it, as another text bubble popped up,

Alex: do you wanna hang out? Laf and herc are busy today

Um? Obviously John wanted to be around Alex Hamilton. Honestly, there was a chance Alex was his soulmate, and John really wanted to know Alex better to be sure.

John: sure, where at?

—

Since Alexander had told John to meet him at some coffee shop, that's where John found himself. He'd never heard of it, but in fairness, New York was a big place and the coffee shop was quaint, and John could only see a few people inside. It didn't seem like very many people knew of it's existence. John walked inside, took a look around, and didn't see Alex, yet. So he sat down at a table and waited for his new friend to show.

Not five minutes later did Alexander Hamilton wind up in the seat across from John with a huge grin. "Good to see you, John Laurens." He said, and John returned the smile and responded, "You too." Now that John was able to see color, well... Alex looked even nicer than he had when they had met. 

John opened his mouth to speak, but Alexander beat him to it, "Sorry if you had a hard time finding this place, only, like, two percent of the New York population now it exists." At this, John shrugged and said, "No, it's okay. It wasn't hard to find." After a second, he added, "It's nice, by the way." This seemed to make Alex happy, which in turn made John happy. It was rather embarrassing how adorable John found Alex to be. 

"My foster dad and I came here a lot when I first came here," Alex told him, seemingly now rambling, "His name is George Washington. I still come here sometimes to write, since it's quiet and it's open pretty much all the time." John wanted to ask about the whole 'foster dad' and 'when I came here' thing, but then again, that didn't seem like something to bring up with someone you hadn't known for even two days. 

Alexander kept talking about nonsense like he was running out of time and John thought it was rather endearing. Eventually, John was able to ask something when Alexander seemed to calm down, "Are Lafayette and Mulligan boyfriends?" He was genuinely curious. Those two seemed to have something going on, and John was sure the two were in a relationship. He'd be willing to bet money.

The topic of his two friends made Alex laugh. "They're soulmates, yeah." He shook his head, "They've known each other for five years or something. I've been basically third-wheeling them for half a decade." This drew a laugh from John. "How 'bout you, my dear Laurens? You've got a special someone on the side?" The question was asked teasingly like Alex already knew the answer. 

"No," was John's immediate response. "I mean, I guess not— do you?" He was quick to turn the question around on Alexander. Shaking his head, Alexander looked a little thoughtful for a minute. "Nah. Like I said, I'm third-wheeling it up."

John laughed at this.

—

So, Alex had told a little bit of a lie. A very small one.

Hercules and Lafayette weren't busy at all, in fact they would probably just be sitting in Alex and Lafayette's apartment and watching cartoons. But, John texted him when he was still talking with his two friends about John, and Lafayette told Alex to get John to go hang out with him. So that's exactly what he did.

And he was really glad he did. John was very good comparing, as it turned out, and Alexander realized with slight annoyance that his tiny crush on the guy was growing with every minute they had together. Because, apparently, John was really flipping cute whenever he did anything at all. 

"Laurens," Alexander said suddenly, interrupting his own sentence about the Schuyler sisters, and John raised his eyebrows as to say what? Alex continued, "Would you like to hang out a bit longer? I know it's getting late, but, oh well." Not everyone liked to say up all night every night, Alex had to remind himself of that often. "Sure, I would like that," John responded this so quickly it took a moment for Alexander's brain to process it. That made Alex smile to himself. "C'mon, then, my dear Laurens." Alex said, as he stood and grabbed John's hand, pulling him up from the seat. 

John stumbled over his own foot at being suddenly on his feet, but regained his balance and followed Alexander, hand still in his. "Uh, where are we going exactly?" They walked outside of the cafe and Alex stopped on the sidewalk, to answer the question.

"Who knows," Alex gave a short laugh, "I don't care, I just want to be with you." Realizing what words came out of his big mouth, Alex felt his face warming with embarrassment and he shot a glance at John. However, John didn't seem put off by the words, or Alex's hand in his for that matter (Alex hadn't even realized he was still holding John's hand or that John was holding his in return), so Alex relaxed. John seemed rather happy with both these things, actually. Interesting.

"In that case, lead the way," John must've noticed Alex's embarrassment because he lightly squeezed Alex's hand and smiled.

Okay, Alexander really liked John. He also, definitely, wasn't going to get any work done tonight


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically gay and also Aaron burr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been procrastinating this for like two months I'm sorry

Alexander fell onto the seat next to Lafayette, promptly shoved his face into the Frenchman's shoulder, and muttered, "You don't understand how cute John is." Being around his new friend (possible soulmate!) made it very difficult to refrain from kissing said friend every two minutes. John made literally everything cute. It didn't seem possible for Alex to be crushing so hard on somebody. He hadn't even liked Eliza as much as he likes John, and he liked her a lot. 

Laughing, Lafayette threw one arm around Alex's shoulders and hugged him. "Is that so?" His tone was teasing but, still, Alex nodded, and added on, "He's very nice, too. You, Herc, John and I need to all hang out again."

"Well, of course, mon petit lion." Lafayette said, before humming and asking, "So, did you bring up the whole 'soulmate' thing to John?" 

Alex raised his head and gawked at his friend. "You can't just walk up to a guy you met like a day ago and say 'hey, I think we're soulmates, you wanna make out?'." As much as he wanted to do basically that... No.

A scoff was the reply. "Obviously." Lafayette tried to sound scolding but instead, his failure of hiding a smile gave it away. "I meant a little less, how you say... Blunt. Never mind that, you are interested in him, oui?" Alex nodded a little, and Lafayette let his smile show as he teased, "You are growing up so fast, it feels like only yesterday you were—" His sentence was cut off by Alex good-naturedly grabbed a pillow and shoving it over his face. Knocking the pillow off of himself and onto the floor, Lafayette glared at Alex, and said with the the most serious tone he could have, "I ship it." 

"Ooof course you do." 

"OTP level ship it," The Frenchman informed him, "I ship it more than I ship Madison and Jefferson."

In fake shock, Alex brought a hand to his chest and gasped exaggeratedly. "That's impossible. Dude, you wrote like a three hundred page fanfic of them when we were in high school." Lafayette raised an eyebrow and corrected Alexander, "Actually, Peggy helped me write that. It was a collaborative piece of art."

"'Art', you say?" This amused Alex to extreme levels. "Art," Lafayette confirmed. "And Peggy helped you with this 'art'? You're kidding, right?" 

Lafayette grinned widely, "No, Peggy is seriously, how you say, trash. She started the whole thing, I kid you not." 

"I'm done," Alex stood and raised his hands, "My life has been a lie. I need to go rethink my life choices." 

Scoffing, Lafayette smacked him playfully on the arm, "You are just going to go lock yourself in your room and text John all night, are you not?" 

"No, mom." Alex lied, he would be doing just that. He practically bolted to his room and grabbed his phone as fast as he possibly could. Opening his chat with John, Alex typed out a message and hit send.

Alex: my dear laurens ;))

Alex: how r u 

Alex: im dying 

To his content, John replied immediately.

John: why are you dying 

Alex: laf and my friend peggy are walking trash cans 

Alex: but that's old news srsly how r u

John: idk I basically got ran out of my own apartment 

John: my roommates boyfriend is a dick

Alex: who do I need to fight 

John: my roommates name is James Madison his boyfriend is Thomas Jefferson seriously he's p rude

John: James is actually nice idk why he deals w Jefferson. But Jefferson chases me away whenever he comes over 

Alex: oH MY F UR KIDDING

John: you know them ?

Alex: JEFFERSON IS LITERALLY MY SWORN ENEMY HOLY ShT

Alex: DUDE HES BEEN MY ENEMY SINCE I GOT HERE IM NOT EVEN KIDDING

Alex: IMAGINE LITTLE ALEX TRYING TO DROP KICK LITTLE JEFFERSON THATS LITERALLY WHAT HAPPENED FIVE MIN AFTER WE MET 

Alex: BTW I WAS A CUTE KID JEFFERSON WAS AN UGLY KID 

Alex: JUST FYI 

John: I'm crying 

Alex: CAN I COME DROP KICK HIM

John: pls don't mads is actually a good roommate 

Alex: IM GOING TO DO IT

John: alex omg 

John: chill

John: I'm jefferDONE rn 

Alex: OMG 

"ALEXANDER I CAN HEAR YOU TEXTING!" Lafayette yelled from the kitchen, and Alex yelled back, "YOU'RE HEARING THINGS THAT AREN'T REAL, I AM CLEARLY READING A BOOK."

"OF COURSE YOU ARE." Alex heard Lafayette scoff, and Alex laughed to himself before continuing to text John. 

Alex: anyway dude do u wanna hang out since you've been kicked out by jackass 

Alex: *jefferson autocorrect knows what's up 

John: I'm actually crying over here some lady just looked at me like I'm crazy because I burst out laughing and I'm all by myself here pls send help

Alex: where r u I'm coming rn 

John: Central Park 

Without wait, Alex burst out of his room, threw his shoes on, and ran to the door. His hair was an absolute mess but he figured he could throw it into his usual ponytail as he was headed to meet John. "Let me guess, you are going to see John?" Lafayette asked teasingly, to which Alex rolled his eyes and waved, leaving.

—  
Aaron Burr. 

It was probably creepy Alex could immediately recognize the man who was ordering a coffee when he'd never met the guy. And the guy wasn't famous or something. But, lord, it was Aaron-Freaking-Burr, Princeton's prodigy and pretty much Alex's idol. He'd read literally every article he could find on Aaron, he may or may not have tracked, like, Aaron's every movement since his graduation. Some people obsess over celebrities and sports stars, Alexander obsessed over this guy ordering coffee.

As soon as Aaron had taken a seat, Alex sprang from his, and swiftly walked over to Aaron, standing next to him. "Aaron Burr, sir?" He asked, a question though his tone may have revealed the fact he already knew well he was correct. Aaron looked at him, eyebrow raised, thinking a moment, before responding, "That depends," He said, taking a sip of his coffee, "Who's asking?"

Eyes lighting up, Alex held his hand out to Aaron, "Alex Hamilton, sir." Aaron studied his hand, chuckling at the outdated formality, before accepting the hand shake. "I'm Aaron Burr, yeah." 

"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Burr, sir— I've looked up to you for the longest time, I— I've read so much about you, you're truly a respectable scholar, I've wanted to meet you for forever, sir—" 

Aaron cut him off, "You talk a lot, don't you?" 

Pursing his lips and flushing red, Alex nodded, "I suppose, sir." 

"You don't have to call me 'sir', Alex," Aaron told him, before motioning to the seat across him, "Sit down, why don't you?" 

"Of course, Mr. Burr." Alex said, sliding into the seat. "You don't have to call me Mister, either. Aaron is fine." Said Aaron. "My— My apologies. I admire you a lot, Aaron... How did you get them to let you fast-track through Princeton? They wouldn't let me, it was absolutely infuriating!"

Shrugging a little, Aaron seemed to not pay any care to the words, "From my understanding, a student after me broke down due to the stress. James Madison, I think, his name was." Alexander's eyes widened as he threw his hands up in the air, "Really?! I couldn't do it because freaking James Madison couldn't handle it?! I could've handled it, I'm a million times better than James Madison—!" 

Noticing the sudden stares on them, Aaron shushed Alex immediately, "Talk less, Alex."

Confused, Alex lowered his hands and gawked. "Excuse me?"

Shaking his head, Aaron clarified, "You're going to get yourself into trouble with the way you speak. Talk less. Smile more." At this Alex laughed a little.

"Anyway, Alex—" Aaron was interrupted as a woman came up to their table. Alex and Aaron both looked at her; Aaron with affection and Alex with confusion. "Aaron," The woman said brightly, before turning attention to Alex, who gave a little smile, "Who's this?"

"Alex Hamilton," Burr told her, before standing and taking her hand, "And this," He spoke to Alex, "Is Theodosia." 

Alex nodded at her, "Pleasure." Theodosia smiled at him. 

"It was nice meeting you, Alex. I'll see you again, perhaps." Before Alex could return the goodbye, Aaron was walking with Theodosia out the door, his coffee abandoned with Alex.

—

"Dude, I met Aaron Burr, I'm actually about to cry," Alex clung to John like he really needed emotional support to grasp this fact. They sat in Alex's living room-type-thing. John, who was half-listening to Alexander and half-drawing Alexander in a sketchbook that had obviously been used for quite some time as the covers were bent and torn, raised an eyebrow at him. "Who's Aaron Burr...? And is it a good or bad thing?" 

Astonished, Alex stared at John like John had just punched Angelica Schuyler in the face (note: that would not end well for John, no matter how tough he might be, Angelica is tougher). "Um? Dude, he's only my actual idol! Aaron Burr, Princeton, y'know?"

John stared at him, his pencil movement pausing. 

"Aaron Burr! Graduated in two years?"

Drawing continuing, pencil scratching at paper in a sound that grated on Alex, John hummed, "I might've heard of him. You met him?"

Frantically, Alex nodded, tugging on John's arm, "He's perfect. I love him. I want him in my life, dammit. Like. Oh my god." 

"Do I have to compete for your love, now?" Asked John, the corner of his mouth tilting up ever-so-slightly in a smile. Alex scoffed. "Please, my dear Laurens, you're absolutely my one and only." Literally, thought Alex to himself. John was still actually the cutest guy alive, and despite his brilliant mind, Aaron Burr had a long way to go if he wanted to even try to compete with John's everything. "Good to know," Said John, his cheeks turning the slightest shade of red. That made Alex grin. 

"I mean, the guy seems a little bland. I only talked to him for a few minutes, but he seemed very, very bland. Introverted? Just... Chill? But maybe that's just because I'm so extroverted. I dunno. But the dude's a genius and I love him. I want him to be my friend. Are friend crushes a thing? I want him to be my friend. I will sit here and make up scenarios about our perfect friendship until he decides to be my damn buddy. He could shoot me and I would still want to be his friend. Even if his personality is about as extravagant as his hair."

John stared again.

"He's bald," Alex clarified. Satisfied with the joke, John snorted and shook his head. "I'm getting jealous here, Alexander. You haven't forgotten me, have you?" 

Alex slapped John's shoulder lightly, "Dude, please."

The voice of their French friend was heard from the kitchen, in a failed attempt to whisper, "Herc, they're so in love." He sniffled and Alex caught sight of Hercules handing him a tissue and kissing his hand in sarcastic comfort, before grinning at Alex and John. John looked up at the two men, and said, "Secrets don't make friends." 

Hercules raised his voice and yelled, "YO, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HOW GAY YOU AND ALEXANDER ARE, MAN." 

Alex and John blinked. "That's fair," John said, shrugging, his face completely red now as he glanced at Alex, who was incredibly glad he could see color and could see exactly how flushed John was. Alex looked away from John and glared at his friends, "This is why the neighbors hate us, guys. Seriously."

"Just telling the truth, mon ami." Alexander glared again, Lafayette blew a kiss, and Hercules put his hand over his heart before he and his boyfriend disappeared into the kitchen again, likely to eavesdrop more. 

Laughing, John shut his sketchbook, set it to the side and faced Alex. "They really aren't inconspicuous about anything, are they?"

Solemnly, Alex shook his head slowly, "They're the worse. Save me."

"WE HEARD THAT, KID!" Hercules yelled again.

"SHUT UP AND STOP LISTENING TO US." Alex shot back. "For the record I'm totally not, as they put it, gay for you."

John shrugged, "Yeah."

"...Is what I would say if I were a liar." Alex grinned, "You're very cute, man, Herc and Laf can make fun of me as much as they want." 

Lafayette and Hercules cheered in the kitchen.

Alex didn't think it was possible for John's face to go even redder, but it did.


End file.
